Transportation Research and Technology

AASHTO Written Submittal

Senate Committee on
Environment
and Public Works
Roundtable Discussion
March 15, 2002

As part of AASHTO's preparations for the reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs, its Standing Committee on Research is preparing a report on research and technology and developing its recommendations for reauthorization. The report, currently in draft form, is expected to be finalized and presented to AASHTO's Board of Directors for approval in April 2002. The current draft contains in-depth coverage of transportation research programs and issues; it is available on request to AASHTO (kenk@aashto.org). This paper summarizes the draft report, concentrating on important recommendations for reauthorization.

BACKGROUND

There will be increasing demands on our transportation system as traffic and the demand for capacity increases; as the infrastructure ages and deteriorates; and as we continue our efforts to meet our social, economic, and environmental goals and responsibilities. To meet those demands, research and technology are critical in helping to find new materials, new technologies, new practices, and new policies.

In the years ahead, it may be technology that exerts the greatest influence on the health of our transportation system. The rapidly changing environment for both freight and passenger travel presents many challenges. Emerging problems, more varied needs, regional differences, deregulation, new regulations, the changing economy, and resource constraints create demands for research, development, and technology transfer. At the same time, evolving computing, control, and communications technologies suggest opportunities for improved products, service, safety, and mobility. It is increasingly clear that many of the challenges presented by our transportation system can only be met by innovation based on research. In recent years, the nation has seen rapid innovation in many fields (e.g., information technology, the space program, national defense, health care, environmental protection, and communications) and of many kinds (e.g., technological, managerial, and operational). It is clear that the pace of change is so rapid that no industry can be stagnant and remain effective.

AASHTO ON RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

AASHTO's draft report focuses on two issues: First, is the nation investing adequately in transportation research for the long term? Second, are priorities among transportation research and technology opportunities determined in a way that will best advance the transportation system? These are important questions, especially when there are limited resources. The draft report begins by summarizing current Research and Technology (R&T) programs, how they are funded and structured, and what they have accomplished. These programs include the State Planning and Research Program; the National Pooled Fund Program; National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP); University Transportation Centers; and federal programs at FHWA, FTA, and other U.S. DOT modal administrations. Many research accomplishments by these programs are described in the draft report and in sources referenced in the report.

The draft report reviews recent initiatives aimed at identifying transportation research needs, including the Future Strategic Highway Research Program (F-SHRP), the National Highway R&T Partnership, the TRB Research and Technology Coordinating Committee, the TRB study on a Surface Transportation Environmental Cooperative Research Program, as well as recent reports by ITS America, ITE, ARTBA, and others. An unprecedented amount of work has been done by many organizations to identify transportation R&T needs from a very broad perspective.

Some of the information on which the draft report is based was obtained from a member-department survey. To determine factual data and departmental priorities, questionnaires were distributed to every state DOT in 2000.

AASHTO's draft report will be particularly timely because of the opportunities associated with the outlook for highway and transportation R&T following the expiration of TEA-21. Most of the funds expended on transportation R&T are authorized by federal legislation. Given the possibility that future federal legislation could include provisions substantially different from the current act, the consequences for transportation research programs must be anticipated, and steps must be taken to ensure that the nation has the kind of transportation R&T programs needed after 2003.

Based on a review of existing programs and recent initiatives, the draft report contains objectives and recommendations on how to fund, coordinate, and implement transportation R&T. The report also includes recommended annual investment levels for specific R&T programs (see Table 1).

OBJECTIVES

The objectives on which AASHTO's R&T recommendations are based are as follows:

• To preserve and enhance productive R&T programs in all modes of transportation;
• To accelerate the application of new technology;
• To ensure an effective organizational framework for priority setting and coordination; and
• To provide appropriate levels and stable sources of funding.

If the draft report is approved, AASHTO will adopt more than 40 recommendations on R&T issues. Many of the recommendations are directed at AASHTO committees and state DOTs, and some specifically focus on issues that will be addressed in the reauthorization process. Six key policy recommendations are highlighted.

KEY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The six key policy recommendations are as follows:

29. Sustain SP&R. The State Planning and Research (SP&R) Program is vital to the work of state DOTs and other entities responsible for ensuring the mobility of Americans. AASHTO recommends continuation of the SP&R program in its current formula-based configuration (i.e., 2 percent of federal-aid programs, with a 25-percent minimum for research). This will ensure that SP&R funding remains adequate and expands in proportion to growth in the federal-aid highway program. A strong SP&R program also ensures that the NCHRP will continue to carry out its essential research role for AASHTO.

30. Initiate F-SHRP. The Future Strategic Highway Research Program recommended in TRB Special Report 260: Strategic Highway Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life will focus on four areas (Renewal, Safety, Reliability, and Capacity) that require a concentration of resources and an integrated-systems approach. In December 2001, AASHTO's Board of Directors approved a policy resolution to initiate this new SHRP program. AASHTO recommends authorization and appropriation of $ 75 million annually for 6 years for a strategic highway research program using a set-aside of a percentage of all federal-aid highway apportionments in fiscal years 2004 through 2009. In anticipation of this program's being authorized, AASHTO is investing substantial NCHRP funding for development of detailed research plans needed to enable the new SHRP to begin as soon as program funds are authorized.

31. Enhance FHWA R&T. In TRB Special Report 261: The Federal Role in Highway Research and Technology, the Research and Technology Coordinating Committee recommended significant changes in FHWA's R&T program. Reductions in research funding available to FHWA under TEA-21 disrupted other R&T programs and hampered the progress of some important research initiatives. AASHTO concurs with the recommendation of TRB's Research and Technology Coordinating Committee: FHWA's research program should be refocused and funded at a level that will enable the program to execute more fully its role in fundamental research, high-risk/high-payoff studies requiring a longer-term effort, research on national-level problems related to FHWA's mission, and technology transfer. Outreach techniques similar to those used by the NCHRP should be used to maximize partner input and stakeholder involvement. FHWA is the most appropriate sponsor for many of the important research needs identified in the August 2001 report of the National Highway R&T Partnership. FHWA R&T would benefit from more direct consultation with states in defining projects, developing priorities, guiding projects, evaluating and disseminating results, and accelerating implementation. In addition, the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program, which is managed by the FHWA through the mulitmodal Joint Program Office, needs continued support. Funding for ITS research, standards, and testing should be adjusted to maintain the current level of effort as an effective means of addressing many of the operational and safety challenges on the surface transportation network.

32. Complete SHRP LTPP. The Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Program was designed and initiated in the late 1980s as a 20-year process of systematic data collection. AASHTO recommends that, to derive full benefit from the member departments' investment in the LTPP program, this component of the SHRP should be sustained through 2009 to achieve the planned 20 years of data collection.

33. Advance TCRP. TCRP was authorized in ISTEA and started in 1992. It was funded at $9 million in its first year and was expected to grow each year to keep pace with the scale of the federal transit program. Federal funding for transit increased by 90 percent in the past 10 years, but funding for TCRP never again reached $9 million, and, in the first 4 years under TEA-21, TCRP funding averaged just $6.5 million. TCRP has been exceptionally effective in delivering practical solutions to pressing problems in the transit industry. AASHTO recommends that the steady decline in TCRP funding should be reversed, funds for the program should be authorized and appropriated at $15 million annually, and future levels should be based on a formula that ties program funding to the level of transit funding.

34. Maximize Quality. In recent years, Congressional earmarking of transportation research funds has reached a level that seriously threatens the effectiveness of the investment. AASHTO recommends that allocation of federal funds for support of transportation research should be based on specified formulas applied to annual apportionments and that research agendas should be developed using a rational decision-making process and should be aimed at national needs identified by consensus. To the greatest extent possible, research-investment decisions should be based on the well-established principles of competition and merit review. Fair and effective processes are available for prioritizing needs and selecting contractors, and these processes should be used to maximize the return on investment in transportation research.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

The draft report contains the following additional recommendations aimed at sustaining and improving transportation R&T programs in the reauthorization.

• Transportation research spending should be increased to reflect current needs and opportunities and to bring the scale into line with research spending in other industries, with transportation research spending in other developed counties, and with past levels of transportation research spending in the United States. Specific recommendations are included in Table 1.

• Funding of transportation research of national significance is a basic responsibility of the federal government in its leadership role in advancing new technologies to serve the public and in its fiduciary role in using national resources efficiently. Federal funding, through federal user fees, should continue to be a principal source of support for research to permit needed technological advancements to occur.

• Allocation of federal?aid funds for support of transportation research should be based on specified formulas applied to annual apportionments. This approach has been key to the exceptional success of the SP&R program and NCHRP.

• Funding should be provided for the Surface Transportation Environmental Cooperative Research Program, as will be recommended in an upcoming TRB Special Report. (Note: This is a placeholder. AASHTO will consider adoption of the recommendations in this report when it is released in April 2002.)

• FTA's research program needs more funding and more flexibility to meet the needs of the transit industry.

• So that students can continue to gain experience in transportation research and be motivated to move into the transportation workforce, University Transportation Centers should be maintained at an increased funding level, coupled with stronger guidance, more competition, and closer performance measurement.

• Research programs managed by U.S. DOT modal administrations should include fundamental, long-term research. Federal research programs should address gaps not covered by other research programs and should put more emphasis on technological breakthroughs and emerging issues.

• Consideration should be given to the creation of cooperatively funded research programs in other transportation modes modeled after NCHRP and TCRP. For example, cooperative programs in the areas of environmental quality, airport operations, and motor-carrier safety would add significant capability in areas needing practical solutions.

• FHWA and other U.S. DOT modal administrations of the should increase their implementation activities for the purpose of moving thoroughly evaluated technology into practice. Technology assistance programs (e.g., the National Highway Institute, the National Transit Institute, the Local Technical Assistance Program), training, international cooperation and outreach, demonstration and experimental projects, and related activities should be continued and expanded.

• The research agenda identified by the working groups of the National Highway R&T Partnership is a realistic compilation of important needs and should be used in setting priorities for national-level highway research starting in fiscal year 2003. The work of the PartnershipCdevelopment of a comprehensive R&T agenda by inclusive groups of volunteer technical specialistsCmust be continued; it is vital to the formulation and coordination of highway research being conducted by FHWA, TRB, state DOTs, and universities.

• The U.S. DOT should continue international outreach programs to monitor and exchange information on transportation research conducted outside the United States in order to reduce undesirable duplication of effort and to make the best use of available R&T.

• Coordination of research to serve the various modes of transportation should be accomplished by cooperation and information sharing, not by abandoning modal ownership and applicability.

Table 1
Recommended Annual Investment
Surface Transportation R&T
(Millions of Dollars)